


Hidden Talents

by inexplicabletrousers



Series: Reylo Moments - Oneshots that fit nowhere else [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Ben can cook!, Cooking, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Happy Ending, bc of course he does, but her name's there, but makes a big mess, just some happy reylo, leia is just barely mentioned so idk if she should be in characters, minor hurt/comfort, vague reference to last shot, vague reference to neglect
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-17
Updated: 2018-06-17
Packaged: 2019-05-24 14:07:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 793
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14956079
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inexplicabletrousers/pseuds/inexplicabletrousers
Summary: Ben is in the kitchen for some reason. Rey is intrigued.





	Hidden Talents

‘What are you doing?’ Rey asked, leaning in the doorframe to the small kitchen as Ben crouched, pulling things out of a cupboard. He ignored the question, pulling out a lid and trying it on the pan beside him. It almost fit. It’d do. Rey looked bemusedly at the destruction around her. The contents of the cupboard were now strewn around the floor, and the surfaces were covered with dry goods and measuring equipment, and two chopping boards sat half on-half off the counter closest to the oven. She watched as his long body uncurled and he stood again, surveying the chaos of his new domain. 

‘Right’ he murmured, filling a kettle with water and setting it on the stove before striding off to the icebox in the corner and pulling out a few things. 

‘You know we have droids to do this?’ Rey asked, following him out of the kitchen and across the yard where he pulled sprigs from a few plants, crushing a leaf of each and raising it to his nose before committing to the decision. he grunted in response but again gave no satisfactory answer. 

Rey rolled her eyes and followed him back inside where he somehow made it through the sea of clutter he had created to the countertops. He had pushed the boards onto the counter making a more stable surface to work on and was chopping ingredients purposefully while the meat began to cook in the pan he had set on the stove. The kettle whistled and he crooked a finger. Rey shook her head as the kettle scraped over to the other side of the stove away from the heat without him moving from where he was standing - she was still surprised by the way he casually used the force in everyday situations, and it had been a point of contention for them on some occasions. Today she didn’t have the energy. She watched as he added ingredient after ingredient to the pot and the room filled with the smell of his cooking. it was good. She hadn’t expected that. She had never really seen anyone cook who wasn’t designed and programmed to do so, but watching Ben she was pleasantly surprised by his confidence.

‘You’re burning a hole in my back.’ He spoke suddenly, breaking the comfortable silence. ‘Find something to do.’ 

‘Give me something to do,’ she told him and made her way over to where he stood by the stove, intermittently uncovering and stirring the pot. The request seemed to surprise him and she could see gears turning in his head for a moment before he spoke again.

‘Right. Uh- I suppose you could stir - not all the time it should mostly be covered otherwise the liquid’ll evaporate and it’ll end up sticky - then I can cut the herbs.’ He moved aside to let her get to the stove and picked up the knife again, beginning to finely cut the leaves he had picked. 

‘When did you learn to cook?’ Rey asked, assuming it hd not been during his time with the First Order - a conversation topic they had exhausted and laid to rest - but she couldn’t imagine Luke teaching cookery at his temple either. 

‘I spent a lot of time with droids growing up. I guess I just picked it up from watching them.’ He replied and Rey was struck by the image of a lonely little boy following a droid around the kitchen, watching it work, sticking his fingers in the way and trying to touch things he shouldn’t as he interfered with the droid’s job. She thought about an older boy, still lonely, still watching as he sat at a counter and noted down the processes taking place. ‘My mother caught me trying to cook a few times. She thought it was pointless as well.’ He shrugged. ‘I like it. It feels…’ he paused searching for the right word, ‘intimate. Familial? I don’t know. I want to do it, for you. For us.’ Rey’s lips parted and for a moment she had no words. The strange mix of sadness and overwhelming joy Ben brought her swelled in the pit of her stomach and she squeezed his shoulder. 

‘I love yo-’ 

The pot began to boil over and Ben pushed her to one side, interrupting her and stepping on a container that broke under his foot as he did so. She stepped back from where he was working and continued to watch as he completed the last few steps of his recipe, happy to once more observe rather than take part in his process. 

‘I do, you know. Love you.’ She said to him when he turned. His face broke into an easy smile and he handed her a plate. 

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you liked this and it didn't give anyone diabetes. It's kind of sickeningly sweet, but I am very stressed right now and needed to write something nice.
> 
> Comments and kudos are appreciated <3


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